Of course this is not game related (we do not expect to be doing any further
game coverage today), but with the legit news sites being almost impossible to
access at times today, we've been getting loads of requests for more information
about what's been going on. Here is the latest as of about 9:00 PM EDT:

President Bush addressed the nation 8:30 PM EDT. Here's a wire report:
WASHINGTON (AP)
- A grim-faced President Bush condemned ghastly attacks in Washington and
New York on Tuesday and vowed to "find those responsible and bring them
to justice." In the second Oval Office address of his presidency, Bush
said the United States would retaliate against ``those behind these evil
acts,'' and any country that harbors them.

To recap:

In two separate attacks, hijacked planes struck both main towers of the
World Trade Center in Manhattan this morning, and both of the "twin
towers" subsequently collapsed.

A hijacked plane struck the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and part of it
has collapsed as well.

A hijacked plane crashed in western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. Reports
indicate the hijackers planned to crash this plane into Camp David in
Maryland.

47 Story WTC building seven, one of the five (relatively) smaller
buildings in the World Trade Center also later collapsed from ancillary
damage.

The White House, the Pentagon, and the Capitol Building were all
evacuated, all domestic flights in the US have been grounded through at
least noon tomorrow.

Other closings include most federal offices, the stock markets, the Disney
theme parks, and the cancellation of today's Major League Baseball schedule.
The President's speech announced that all federal agencies will be open for
business tomorrow.

Broadcasts out of Afghanistan showed evidence of missile attacks and
antiaircraft fire, but what connection this has to today's apparent
terrorist attacks in the US is not clear at this point. The US has denied
involvement in these attacks.

In the first hints of any sort at the scope of casualties, the New York
City Fire Department has estimated that as many as half of the 400
firefighters dispatched to the scene are missing. CNN has said that 78
Police officers are missing. Also, the death toll from those on the four
hijacked planes has been placed at 266. The number of dead and injured at
the Pentagon has been widely reported as about 100. No estimates of the
number of victims from the World Trade Center have been made.

Having had some absorption time, I can now think clearly and say what I personally think we as a nation must do.

1. We MUST rebuild the twin towers. If they get blown up again, we must bebuild them again. Rebuilding the towers will turn the material act of destroying the buildings into an act of renewal. This does NOT refer to the loss of life, so don't think for a minute that I'm saying this will replace that.

2. We must honor the dead. I have never been so appauled at such a senseless waste of life. I hated having to explain to my children what happened yesterday.

3. We must maintain our stance as a peace loving nation, however, we must also, at the same time drop our relatiatory mentality to the level of the people that did this. Let me explain why I feel that violence on our part in this case is acceptable. While it's true that violence only begets violence, sometimes, fear is the only thing that that a violent mind comprehends. An attack on certain countries or areas might not strike fear into the people that did this, it will ceratinly strike fear into SOMEONE. They are the ones we need to have step up and say "This group did it, and here is where you can find them, now please stop your unrelenting attacks on us!!" THAT is the kind of response that needs to be culled from other countries. We already have the moral support of many countries. I suggest we take full advantage of that support. If a murder was committed, and I harbored the criminal, I would expect the law to come down on me every bit as much as they did on the criminal. By allowing them sanctuary, or hiding them, I am approving of what they did. On the whole, I do not advocate violence as an answer, however, we can NOT sit back and allow this to happen to us. I want other terrorist groups to say "remember the attack on the U.S. in 2001? The world trade center incident??" and instead of "yes! what a glorious day it was!!" their response should be "Yes, it's unfortunate that we no longer have a country to live in ourselves". I would EXPECT this same attitude if the U.S. were harboring a person or group that had done this to another country. I would EXPECT that we would either turn over the perpetrator for justice, OR face the consequences, so before you people sit there condemning OUR violent behaviour in this situation, look at what has happened, and realize that we have EVERY RIGHT to totally annihilate whoever did this, including the people that are harboring them, for they are JUST as guilty, and I hope the world joins together in one unified front to crush into nothing the people who are responsible for this. This is an extreme act against the U.S. that calls for extreme countermeasure.

One final comment. There is NO extreme sect in the entire world that is good, religeous or otherwise. I see them as the bane of all that is likely wrong with the world. This applies to ALL religeons/ extremeist groups. EVERYWHERE. Not just the middle east, although they seem to be the most passionate about their beliefs. You cannot force your beliefs and wills on someone and expect them to see your actions as just. Opposing viewpoints/ stances are expected, and perhaps even benficial as it allows people to feel like they belong to something greater than just themselves, however, when that viewpoint begins affecting others outside of your group, then that group needs to be quelled.